Baldness Treatment Reported

NEW ORLEANS -- A vitamin A derivative used to treat acne also may be a potent booster to minoxidil in restoring hair on bald people, a New Orleans dermatologist reports.

Two-thirds of 56 men and women whose scalps were treated with a solution of tretinoin and minoxidil grew hair on bald areas, Dr. Nia Terezakis told colleagues Tuesday at the 45th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Tretinoin, a derivative of vitamin A in use for 15 years as a treatment for acne, also is effective as an anti-aging agent because it tends to normalize skin cells, Terezakis said.

Minoxidil is a potent antihypertensive drug that has been shown to promote hair regrowth in other studies. The restorative characteristics were discovered during trials in which it was applied topically to the skin to test its effectiveness against high blood pressure.

In her study, Terazakis said she was able to achieve hair regrowth using a minoxidil concentration that was one-fourth to one-tenth as much as used in other studies that showed minoxidil alone was an effective treatment for baldness.

She speculated the ability of tretinoin to increase epidermal absorption possibly allows more minoxidil to reach the hair follicle cells and stimulate their growth.

The solution was applied twice a day in the year-long study. Hair regrowth was assessed monthly by serial photographs and by hair counts in a one-inch circle on the scalp.

``Good responders have hair regrowth of the same length and texture as the original hair,`` she said.

Although it has not yet been sanctioned by the federal Food and Drug Administration as a hair growth agent, minoxidil is widely used for that purpose in the United States. It already has been approved for treating baldness in Canada under the trademark name Regaine.

Minoxidil is believed to promote hair growth either by modifying cell reproduction or by dilating blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow through the hair follicle.

``Minoxidil must be viewed as an effective medication and a giant first step in the treatment of male baldness,`` said Dr. Ronald Savin, a Yale University dermatologist who conducted a year-long study of the drug`s effect on 96 men.

He told the academy minoxidil produced ``significant, though modest`` hair regrowth in 58 percent of the men treated in the study. The drug worked best, he said, in areas where there were pre-existing, fine hairs or fuzz.

``For the first time we have something that promotes hair growth that`s not snake oil, and that`s very exciting,`` Savin said.

For maximum results the solution should be applied twice a day every day, Savin said. Once the treatment is started it must be continued or the improvement will be lost within two to six months of stopping, he said.